There are various situations where food dishes or other kitchenware articles can fall, spill or otherwise cause a mess because they are not securely held during use. For example, a young child having a meal in a restaurant may spill the contents of a plate by moving the plate around or may knock a dish off of the table or other substrate. The problems of securely retaining kitchenware are not restricted only to small children. Adults with motor control deficiencies may also have trouble using unsecured kitchenware. In restaurants and similar settings, preventing spillage from a plate or a bowl is a challenge for many parents and caregivers, who often resort to holding a child's plate by hand to keep it from being tipped, spilled, or knocked off. Alternatively, dishes and bowls are not used at all and food for children is placed directly on the table or other substrate or on a paper placemat provided by the restaurant, which is not a sanitary solution.
In addition, eating in a moving environment such as in a vehicle, watercraft, aircraft, or other moving environments using conventional unsecured dishes without holders may lead to spills or breakage.
There have been various attempts to design plates and placemats that can reduce the likelihood of food spillage; however, many of these designs are not suitable or other substrate for use with an existing kitchenware or may require cleansing between uses. Also, one previous plate holder included a mechanism that was large and bulky which required assembly of the plate holder prior to use. Additionally, bulky devices can be difficult to carry and a burden to use, especially when a child can access and actuate the mechanism.
Examples of some references that relate to preventing spillage of plate or bowl contents as well as general mess prevention can be found in the following the contents of which are incorporated herein: U.S. Pat. No. 7,303,172; U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,735; U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,262; U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,614; U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,541; and U.S. application Ser. No. 12/221,393.